Newcastle Student Council to vote on shutting down anti-abortion society

Newcastle’s Student Council will debate on Thursday over the de-ratification of an anti-abortion group.

Life Society, which also campaigns against the use of euthanasia, was ratified at the end of the 2015/16 academic year by the Societies Executive Committee.

However, the Student Council will now vote on whether there should be a U-turn on this decision, due to the group’s potential to offend the student body.

Within the motion proposal, it says that the council believes that: “University is a time when many young women get pregnant, and is also when they are unlikely to want a child and therefore may opt for an abortion.”

They also stated their belief that: “Life Society is harmful to students and it’s self-promotion/campaigns on campus will be upsetting for much of the student body.”

The debate is likely to sway between the offensiveness of the group’s message, and their right to free speech within the university.

The vote over whether the society can continue to exist will be made on Thursday.